Possibly the End of a Marriage
by TotalCSIfan
Summary: Nick Stokes thought he had the perfect marriage, but will one night, one lie, and one man ruin everything? This is my first multi-chapter story, so hang in there with me! Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy it!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing of CSI

Possibly the End of a Marriage

Chapter 1: Date Night

Nick Stokes and his wife were on there way to a nice restaurant, it was their date night. Once a month they planned a special night out together, just the two of them. They didn't get as much quality time with each other as they wanted because both had demanding careers, he as a CSI and her as a kindergarten teacher, but setting aside one night a month helped a lot, and it was something they both looked forward to. On the way to the restaurant they just engaged in small talk, the usual "how was your day" type of thing. Another thing they liked to do on the way to the restaurant was listen to music, Jackie was a die hard country music fan, Nick wasn't so much, but as Jackie would put it "he was coming around." On their date nights the car radio was turned to country music, Jackie wasn't sure if this was Nick being a southern gentleman and by her choose, or if Nick liked country music more than he let on, but Jackie didn't care what the reason was as long as the station was turned to country. The couple drove in happy silence listening to the radio and enjoying the lights on the strip. The silence however was interrupted by Jackie when a certain song came on the radio, she hated that song, ever since Nick had known her, she hated it, it was a romantic song and once early in their relationship Nick had tried to sing it to her, he thought she would like it, but instead she told him she hated that song, and she instructed him to never sing it to her again. Nick never did, and nothing had changed, to this day when it came on the radio she got mad. This night was no exception, she didn't even have to hear a word of the song and she knew which song it was.

"God, I hate that song." She said, and quickly changed the station. Nick laughed at his wife's antics

"Calm down Jackie, there is no rule that says you have to listen to it." He teased.

"Hush Nick, you know how I feel about that song."

"How come you've never told me why you hate it?" He asked.

"I told you Nicky, I don't know why; it just gets on my last nerve."

He chuckled

"Oh come on Nick, that isn't so weird, I mean, there are songs that you don't like." Jackie said.

"Yeah sure there are some songs I don't like, but none that make me so mad I want to rip the stereo out of the car." He said with a grin.

She just playfully stuck her tongue out at him.

They got to the restaurant and were about to order when…. "Jackie" a voice said.

She looked to the side of her and saw an old college friend, a guy named Zach.

"Zach, hi, what a surprise." She said happily. She got up out of the booth and gave him a hug.

"Nick, this is Zach, Zach this is my husband Nick." She said introducing the two men.

Was Jackie imagining things or did Zach look disappointed when she said "husband."

"So are you enjoying Vegas, it's a cool place isn't it?" Zach said.

"Actually we live in Vegas." Jackie said.

"Really, you didn't strike me as a Vegas type of girl, more of a small town girl." Zach said surprised.

"Well you're right but Nick lived here when I met him, and he has a good job, so I moved here after we got married."

"What do you do exactly Nick?" He asked.

"I'm a crime scene investigator." Nick said.

Zach looked impressed "wow that would be an awesome job." Zach said.

Nick chuckled "well there's never a dull moment, that's for sure."

Zach nodded."

Jackie, would you like to dance?" Zach asked. "If that's alright with you Nick?" he quickly added.

"Sure go ahead." Nick said with a smile.

Jackie was getting up when suddenly the song that was playing ended, and a new one begin.

Zach looked surprised but he got a huge grin on his face "come on, that's _our_ _song_." He said grabbing her hand.

Jackie looked surprised but for a different reason, and Nick looked stunned.

The song that Zach had just referred to as "_our song_" was the exact same song Jackie had expressed so much hatred towards just twenty minutes ago.

"Uh, she hates that song dude." Nick said,

Zach just laughed and said "yeah right, she loves it."

He gave Jackie's arm a pull "come on, or it will be half over before we even get on the dance floor." He said.

Jackie let herself be led away but she turned back towards her husband and mouthed the words "he's crazy." Nick watched as his wife and her friend danced, Jackie had a huge smile on her face, she seemed to be having fun, and it looked like her level of hatred towards that song had dropped dramatically. Nick was confused, very confused.

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Explanation

The song ended and Zach walked Jackie back to her table. After she had sat down Zach smiled and said he would be back later, and then he walked away. Jackie looked at her husband, he was starring at her and he didn't look happy.

"What?" she asked.

"An explanation would be nice." Nick said, sounding annoyed and a little angry.

"An explanation of what?" Jackie said, not knowing what he was talking about.

"Well, you suddenly didn't seem to mind that song at all, which is surprising, because for all these years you have told me how bad you hate it. Now what is going on?"

"I told you Nick, he's crazy." Jackie said with a smile, but Nick didn't buy it in the least.

"Jackie" He said, clearly growing impatient.

She sighed "alright, here's the truth, Zach and I were good friends in college, and for some reason, one day in class he started singing me that song, then he did it again the next day, and the day after that, from then on it happened everyday, sometimes multiple times a day. He's always said that this song is _our song_, and he never wanted me to sing it to anyone else, or have anyone else sing it to me. In fact one day I even jokingly asked him "If I get married, can my husband sing it to me?" and he said no."

Nick cleared his throat and asked "What kind of history do you and this guy have, I mean I realize everyone has a past, hell in my past I slept with a prostitute and was the prime suspect in her murder, not exactly a shining moment in my life, but at least I was honest with you about it."

"That's just it Nick, we don't have a history, we were just friends, we never even dated. You're right though, I should have been honest with you, and I am very sorry I lied." She said.

"If nothing happened between you two why did you lie about it?" Nick asked.

"I don't know, I guess because even though nothing happened between us, I still liked him a lot, I mean when I was having a bad day, all he would have to do is smile at me, and all of a sudden everything seemed right with the world, and that song brings back memories for me, great memories. I guess I just didn't want to share those memories with anyone, not even you. I'm sorry."

"Obviously he liked you, and clearly you liked him so how come you two never dated?" Nick asked.

"Because by the time we figured out how we felt about each other it was too late, he got the opportunity to go to grad school out of state so he moved. For a while we kept in contact via phone calls and emails, but eventually we lost touch completely."

Nick's CSI side came out "so let me get this straight, you act like you hate the song, but in truth, you love it." He asked.

"Yes" Jackie said.

"And you and this guy have no history right?" He asked.

"That's right, Nicky, you know you are my first and only true love."

Nick smiled at her. "Is there anything else I should know?" he asked.

"Nope….well there is one thing." She said.

"What's that?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

"I once worked for Lady Heather."

Nick would not have been more shocked if his wife had told him she was an alien from an unknown planet. Seeing the expression on his face made her burst out in laughter.

"Gotcha, just kidding honey." She said still laughing.

Nick heaved a sigh of relief and then he also laughed "You got me alright, I almost had a heart attack."

They both laughed. Then they were silent for a minute, as they stared into each others eyes. Jackie grabbed his hand, "I'm sorry about all of this, I should have just been honest from the very beginning." she said.

"It's alright, no harm done." Nick said with a smile. His smile turned into a smirk when he said "Let me ask you something."

"Sure, shoot" Jackie said.

"Can I sing you that song now?"

Jackie laughed and said "No, you heard the guy, that's _our song._"

Nick laughed.

"Uh-oh here he comes again." Jackie said

Nick looked over his shoulder and sure enough Zach was walking their way.

"Hi again." He said with a friendly smile when he got to their table.

"Hi" Nick and Jackie said in unison.

"Listen Jackie, I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me tomorrow night, it's my last night in town, and I would love to get together so we could catch up with one another."

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

The Answer

"Zach I'm sorry but I don't think that is a very good idea." Jackie said.

"You should go" Nick said.

Jackie looked at her husband "What?" She asked him shocked.

"Go ahead, what harm could it do?" Nick asked.

Zach looked at Jackie, waiting for her answer.

"Sure, as long as Nick is ok with it, I'd like to go."

"Ok good, where do you want to go?" He asked. "

"Do you like Chinese food?" Jackie asked him.

"Sure, who doesn't?" he said with a laugh.

"Since I have a rental car, I can pick you up." Zach offered.

"Alright that sounds good to me." She said.

"Does tomorrow night at 7 work for you?" He asked.

"Yep, works for me." Jackie said.

Jackie gave him her address, and then he said "Ok, I will see you tomorrow." Then he once again left.

"Nick are you sure you are ok with this?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah, it's no problem, you know I'm not the jealous type, and I trust you." He said.

She smiled gratefully at him.

Nick suddenly grinned and said "come on, let's dance, this is _our song_."

She listened and sure enough the song that was playing was their wedding song. She got out of the booth, and placed her hand in Nick's awaiting hand. He led her to the dance floor and while dancing in each others' arms Jackie found it hard to believe that just 15 minutes ago Nick was upset with her. Those fifteen minutes seemed like a lifetime ago. The couple enjoyed the rest of their evening, and when they had gotten home they went to bed and fell asleep wrapped in each others embrace.

The following evening Jackie was putting the finishing touches on her makeup. "Nicky, are you sure you are ok with this?" She asked him for the one hundredth time.

Nick laughed "Yes dear, I haven't changed my mind."

She grinned at him. Minutes later the door bell rang. She went to answer the door. She opened it and Zach was standing there.

"Wow you look amazing." He said sweetly.

Jackie could feel her face getting red. "Thank you." She said with a smile.

Then he asked her a surprising question. "Are you from Tennessee?"

"Zach we are from the same hometown, you know I'm not from Tennessee, why would you ask me that?"

"Because, you're the only 10 I see." He said with a huge smile.

Jackie laughed, she looked at Nick, who was bent over he was laughing so hard.

"You haven't changed at all have you?" She said still laughing.

"Nope." Zach replied honestly.

"Let me grab my jacket and we'll go." Jackie said.

She walked by Nick, who had finally quit laughing, he grabbed her arm "That was the cheesiest thing I have ever heard." He whispered.

"Hush" Jackie whispered back with a grin.

She grabbed her jacket and then she and Zach were out the door. He opened the passenger car door, she got in, and he shut it, and went to the drivers' side and climbed in. He started the car and they were off.

"Nate seems nice." He said while driving along.

"Nick" she corrected him.

"Oh sorry, Nick, Nick seems nice." He said.

"He is, he is a true southern gentleman." Jackie said.

"I am very glad your boyfriend treats you so well, you deserve it." Zach said.

"Husband" Jackie corrected, rolling her eyes and smiling.

"Husband, sorry my mistake." He said with a mischievous smile on his face, and Jackie was almost positive that "mistake" was intentional.

It did not take them long to reach the restaurant, and after pulling the car into a parking space and shutting off the engine Zach again went around and opened Jackie's door for her.

"Thank you" She said. Zach grinned and asked her

"Am I a southern gentleman too?"

Jackie laughed and said "Well you're not from the south, so you're not a southern gentleman but you are a gentleman, which is the important thing."

"I'll take that" Zach said smiling at her.

They got a table in the restaurant and ordered; while they waited for their food Zach asked "So what part of the south is Nick from exactly?"

"Texas" Jackie said.

"That's a nice state, my company just sent me there a couple of months ago, I got to go to Houston for the first time, it was a pretty cool place."

"I've never been to Houston, but I do like Texas, it's pretty down there." Jackie said.

"Yeah it is." Zach agreed. Then Zach asked "Not to be nosey, but when I was in your house I didn't see any pictures of kids, don't you have children?" He asked.

"No, not yet." She answered.

"Why not? You love kids" Zach said.

"Oh I don't know, we are both pretty busy with our careers right now, but we will have kids one day soon hopefully, because you're right, I do love kids, and I would love to have a couple of my own one day." Jackie said.

"You would make a really great mother." He said.

"Thank you, that means a lot." Jackie said happily. Then she said "So enough about me, I want to hear what you have been up to." Jackie said.

"well, I went to grad school as you know, I got my degree, work for a big name company in our hometown, and I am living the single life right now."

"That sounds exciting." Jackie said.

"Yeah it's ok." He answered. "I thought I found my future wife last night but it turns out she is already married."

"That's awful." She said sympathetically.

He gave her a huge grin, and then it dawned on Jackie that he was talking about her.

"ohhh me?" She asked.

"Yes you." He said laughing.

"Well sorry about that." She said chuckling.

Then Zach said "so I know you two are married, but are you happily married, or otherwise?

"Zach" Jackie said laughing.

"Answer the question" Zach said with a grin.

"Happily" she said playing along.

"Extremely happy, or just kind of happy."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Extremely happy."

"Darn it." Zach said with a laugh, and Jackie joined in on the laughter. They got their food, while eating they talked happily with one another, remembering stories from days past.

After they ate Zach looked at his watch, "Hey, it's still early, do you want to go dancing?" He asked?

"Sure, why not" she said.

They left the restaurant and drove to a near by club. They got there and got a table and sat down.

Then Zach got up and said "I will be right back."

"Ok" Jackie said.

He came back a couple of minutes later so Jackie got up, thinking they were going to dance.

"hold on, we'll dance in a minute." Zach said.

So Jackie sat back down.

They sat there for a couple minutes, then Zach got a huge grin on his face and said "alright, come on, let's go dance."

Jackie immediately knew why he was grinning, their song had come on again.

He grabbed her hand as they went to the dance floor "that's why I left for a few minutes, I went to put in a request for _our song_." He whispered to her as they begin to dance. He then started singing the song to her as loud as he could, just like he did when they were in college. Jackie was embarrassed, and she could feel her face getting red.

"shuuuu, not so loud." She begged as people were starting to stare and laugh.

He didn't listen, instead he just got louder. Which she somewhat expected, that is what he always did in college too, the more she tried to get him to be quiet, the louder he would get. She finally just gave up, letting him sing as loud as he wanted.

After the song was over he whispered "You're face is red."

"I bet it is." Jackie said with a laugh.

They danced for a couple hours nonstop; Jackie could not believe how much fun she was having. As they danced, he kept smiling at her. Jackie loved his smile, she always had. When they were in college just looking at Zach's smile gave her tingles down her spine. Nobody else's smile ever made her feel that way, nobody but Nick's smile that is.

Zach looked at his watch and frowned. "Jackie, I'm sorry but I think I better get you home, it's getting late and I have an early flight out of here tomorrow morning."

"Oh, Ok." She said with a smile but she couldn't help feeling disappointed.

On the drive home she said "I had a wonderful time tonight."

"I'm glad you had fun, I did too." He said. Then he added "you're a good dancer."

"Thank you so are you." She said.

He pulled into her driveway, turned off the car, and said "Jackie I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" she asked.

"I'm sorry I moved to go to grad school, I should have never left you, it was stupid." He said.

"Don't be sorry, it was a huge opportunity, you would have been stupid to not have taken it." She said.

"But I lost you." He said quietly.

"Listen Zach, don't worry, you will find a girl soon, you have so much going for you, a great job, money, a sense of humor that would make any normal person burst out laughing, and movie star looks."

He offered her a small but sad smile "Thanks" He said.

Jackie just smiled back, and started to grab the car door handle "No wait." Zach said, she stopped and he got out of the car and ran to the passenger side and opened the door for her.

He grinned, "am I a southern gentlemen yet?" He asked.

She laughed "boy you don't give up, do you."

"Nope, persistent is my middle name." He said.

They smiled at one another.

She got out of the car, he shut the door, and they started to walk to Jackie's front door, when they got to the top of the steps, she had her hand on the door handle when he leaned in for a kiss goodnight but she immediately pulled back. Tears filled her eyes,

"Zach I'm sorry but I can't do that, I love you but I'm married, and I love Nick more than anything, he is my heart and soul and I can't betray him like that."

Zach took a step back "I understand." He said.

"I'm sorry" She said again quietly.

She opened the door, he watched her step inside, she turned back one last time "goodbye" She whispered; now the tears were streaming down her face.

"Goodbye Jackie." Zach said, he then turned and started walking towards his car.

She shut the door, and went over to the window. She saw him get into his car, and she watched as the little red sports car drove down the road. She sat on the couch and cried. She knew she had done the right thing, she wasn't lying when she'd said that she loved Nick, he really was her everything, but it was still hard. She lay down on the couch, she hadn't realized it until just now, but she was exhausted. Thoughts still filled her mind as she drifted off to sleep.

The next thing she heard was the phone. "Hello." Jackie said. It was Catherine Willows, her friend and Nick's supervisor, and she was crying

"Jackie, I'm so sorry to have to tell you this but there was an accident tonight and Nick was killed."

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Accident

"Oh my God, what happened?" Jackie asked hysterically.

"Just get here as soon as you can, I will explain it when you get here." Catherine said, barely able to speak through her tears.

Jackie made it to the lab in no time, she found Catherine and Sara standing together and both of them were crying. Jackie ran to them.

"Catherine, Sara, what happened?" Jackie asked completely in disbelief that this was happening.

"He was with Sara on a case and…" Catherine started but she broke down and couldn't say another word.

Jackie turned to Sara. Sara took a deep breath before she spoke "We were investigating a possible 419 on the side of a deserted road, and out of nowhere this car came roaring down the road going about 80 miles an hour, the car hit Nick, and kept on driving as if nothing happened. Jackie I am so sorry, there was nothing I could do, the car was going so fast, and it hit Nick so hard that he was killed instantly." Tears sprang in Sara's eyes.

Jackie's head was spinning, she felt like she was going to pass out. She was sobbing, "Who could do this?" She asked. Then she continued "oh God, girls, what am I going to do." The two women immediately wrapped their arms around Nick's hysterical wife.

"It's going to be alright." Catherine said.

"He loved you very much." Sara added.

Catherine looked at Sara and asked "Sara, did you manage to get the license plate number?"

"No, I was so busy seeing if I could help Nick, and the car was going so fast that I didn't get a chance to look at the license plate." Sara said shaking her head sadly.

"Did you get a good look at the driver?" Cath asked trying again.

"No, the only thing I can tell you is that it was a red sports car."

Jackie's eyes grew wide in horror "Oh my God Zach, what have you done?" She exclaimed.

Catherine and Sara looked at her.

"What" Sara asked her gently.

Jackie didn't answer.

"Jackie" Cath said.

Still no answer.

"Jackie, Jackie, JACKIE."

Jackie opened her eyes, she was in her living room, it was daylight, and Nick had a hold of her arm. She quickly sat up.

"Nicky, you're alive." She blurted, relief evident in her voice.

"You are very observant." Nick said with a chuckle. Then he asked her "Are you alright, you were thrashing all around and you were talking in your sleep?"

Jackie rubbed her head, she had a headache "Yeah, I'm fine, I just had a horrible nightmare that's all."

"A nightmare about what?" Nick asked, taking a seat on the end of the couch by her feet.

"You don't want to know." She answered.

Nick didn't push it, instead he asked "So did you have a good time last night?"

"Yes, it was fun, we went to dinner and then went dancing."

"Good, I am glad you had a goodtime." He said.

She smiled at him, and he returned the smile, and as usual her husbands' gorgeous smile sent tingles down her spine.

**The End**


End file.
